A hundred questions

[Reynol25]

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As I write this I am very uncertain about my future with dental school and I have quite a few questions I keep asking myself. To start, here are my credentials - I took my DAT on 9/18/2015 and achieved the following scores: PAT 17, QR 18, RC 25, Biology 18, GC 22, OC 22, TS 20, AA 21. My cGPA is 3.01 and sGPA is 2.97 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and I graduated in 2013.

I understand that it is already late in the cycle, is it worth still applying to try and gain admission this cycle at the application deadlines or am I better to wait until next cycle? Which schools do I have a shot at being accepted into realistically with my low GPA?

I think at this point after seeing how few, if any, schools accept GPAs under 3.2, it would be best to take classes to boost my GPA. Would I be better suited to going into a post-bacc or a masters program? I was also reading about programs that use your DAT score to get you in the door and if you do well there you can gain admission to certain dental schools, is that a feasible option? Would I have to retake the DAT again once I am finished taking classes ? I would prefer to avoid retaking it as I am happy with my scores and it is rather expensive.

I'm sure I have more questions, but I think this will do for now. If anyone could answer even one of my questions I would be so grateful.

 

[dentalstudent2021]

Hello. I would say too late to apply. as AADSAS takes a minimum of 4 weeks to just process your application then another 2 weeks to send out your material to school.
So, if you apply now, you are looking at possibly december when schools recieve your materials which is when most schools start sending out acceptance letters.
I would say wait for next year, no point in wasting your money to "just apply for the sake of it". I would possibly do a masters program to boost your credentials.

 

[danchoi03]

Reynold,

A masters program is much better for your case. I only know a few masters programs that have strong tie to their dental schools such as Tuft, Nova, and Temple. Call the schools that you are interested about your DAT scores. I am a little bit worry about your 17 PAT and 18 Bio, but overall you have a great score. Call the schools first before you decide to retake. It is slightly late to apply for this cycle, but I have seen people applied really late and got in. However, those people have exceptional stats.

 

[molarmom]

As I write this I am very uncertain about my future with dental school and I have quite a few questions I keep asking myself. To start, here are my credentials - I took my DAT on 9/18/2015 and achieved the following scores: PAT 17, QR 18, RC 25, Biology 18, GC 22, OC 22, TS 20, AA 21. My cGPA is 3.01 and sGPA is 2.97 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and I graduated in 2013.

I understand that it is already late in the cycle, is it worth still applying to try and gain admission this cycle at the application deadlines or am I better to wait until next cycle? Which schools do I have a shot at being accepted into realistically with my low GPA?

I think at this point after seeing how few, if any, schools accept GPAs under 3.2, it would be best to take classes to boost my GPA. Would I be better suited to going into a post-bacc or a masters program? I was also reading about programs that use your DAT score to get you in the door and if you do well there you can gain admission to certain dental schools, is that a feasible option? Would I have to retake the DAT again once I am finished taking classes ? I would prefer to avoid retaking it as I am happy with my scores and it is rather expensive.

I'm sure I have more questions, but I think this will do for now. If anyone could answer even one of my questions I would be so grateful.

I actually would say post-bacc is better as it gives you a chance to demonstrate that you can achieve a strong GPA in basic sciences. Some post-baccs have tight integrations with dental schools (see MWU).